SHALLIE is standing quietly while osteopath Zoe Boyle works her magic. She is manipulating his shoulder, rubbing over the area in circles while Shallie drops his head acquiescently and his eyelids lower a fraction.

Next, Zoe runs her hand over his back, carefully feeling for any areas of stiffness and a sign of possible injury, before lifting his leg and gently moving it backwards and forwards. She is quiet, going about her work swiftly but with assurance. "There's a good boy," she says.

This is just an ordinary day at the office for Zoe, 35, - only the office is a stable, ankle deep in straw, and Shallie is a 16.1hh bay ex-three day event horse. Shallie is just one of her customers - who come in the shape of dogs, horses, occasionally cats, and often humans.

Zoe was originally a nurse in London before retraining as an osteopath in 1997. It took five years for her to qualify in osteopathy and although she loved her new work, it didn't encompass her love of animals.

But then she underwent a post-graduate diploma in veterinary osteopathy, receiving training from Stuart McGregor, who had treated Best Mate, the Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner. Now she has her dream career.

Zoe moved to Darlington two years ago with her partner, fellow osteopath Darren Chandler, and her time is spent working with animals as well as her human clients at clinics around the North-East or at stables or kennels.

The range of ailments which greet an animal osteopath can be diverse, and extremely restricting, especially if you're a racing dog or a competition horse.

"It can be anything from a strained ligament to a trauma caused by an accident," she says. "With horses, quite often the neck can be a problem area, mainly from bad riding. Event horses and showjumpers can also get hamstring problems. If you look at the way they have to use their back legs to get over the fences you can see why they can get quite tight and need to be stretched out. Or it could be an injury from the stable. They may have hit their heads on the stable door or while playing out in the field."

But how can you tell when your horse is in pain or could do with a bit of manipulation?

"Quite often the owner will say that their horse doesn't feel right or they would know if it's been involved in an accident," says Zoe. "The animal could also be reluctant for you to touch them because the area may hurt. I had a case where a horse had been rearing which wasn't normal for him, and it turned out to be a problem at the top of his neck. I think he had knocked his head on the top of the stable door. He couldn't move his head left or right so the only way he could move was up."

When Zoe is called out, the first job for her is to build up a case history - how old the horse is, its background, whether it is used for competitions or simple hacking about and have there been any previous injuries. Then Zoe gets the owner to walk the horse out, so she can look at its symmetry and balance, before being trotted out.

The treatment consists of a series of moves like those used in human osteopathy, only in the case of horses, with somewhat heavier limbs, it's pretty physical work.

"You tend to use your centre of gravity so you can minimise the strain on yourself," she says. "I will basically move every joint, looking for restrictions and feeling for the quality of movement. I would usually see them once or possibly twice and then, depending on how they're doing, I'll suggest calling back in between three and six months."

She recalls one horse she helped had ongoing lameness and had had ultra sound treatment to find the cause of the problem. It turned out to be a shoulder injury which the horse was compensating for by shifting his body weight on to his other side, hence appearing to be lame.

He had lost muscle on the injured shoulder due to his over-compensation. But after two sessions he became sound again.

Zoe has also helped a number of dogs in the racing world, whose owners call her up and bring several dogs for treatment at a time.

"It brings a whole new meaning to the word dogging," she laughs. "I've been meeting them in car parks in Teesside, everywhere."

Zoe works out of a number of clinics, including the Teesdale Natural Health Clinic in Barnard Castle, but travels across the North-East and North Yorkshire to her four-legged patients.

Today, she is at Downland Farm, near Bishopton, where Shallie, 18, is being extremely patient as his limbs are manipulated backwards and forwards.

"It's like a spa day for him," says Michael Bannister, who rides him. "It's a bit of maintenance and it helps keep him supple."

About 90 per cent of Zoe's clients are human but she's keen to build on the animal side of the business.

"I love my job and the nice thing about helping animals is that you get to be outside as opposed to being in a clinic room," she says.

Her training means she can treat any animal and she has treated cats in the past. "I think the only animals I haven't worked on are fish, but then I'm not quite sure how that would work," she jokes.

As Zoe continues working on Shallie, he hangs his head in relaxation. She picks up his back leg and manipulates his fetlock joint above the hoof.

"The horses quite like it, unless it's an area of pain, then they'll try and pull their leg away," she says. "Basically it's a bit like going for a massage for them." Judging by Shallie's sleepy eyes, he would agree.

l Treatment for dogs costs from £5 and a session with horses is about £35, depending upon distance travelled. For more information contact Zoe on 07990 573388.